Google launches Google India Labs

Early last week, Google hinted at a new venture for them that they would be unveiling focused around the country of India. Now, today they have announced that they are launching Google India Labs, an extension of their existing services that will cater specifically to Indian and South Asian languages.

The new service includes Google search add-ins that make searching easier by adding native language symbols into searches without requiring a software install or a special keyboard. They are also doing transliteration for searches, in order to make their search engine more widely accessible:

If you're interested in writing in Hindi, we have brought out the transliteration feature from Blogger into an independent product of its own: Google Indic Transliteration. This tool will let you type in Hindi, using an English keyboard. Type out words phonetically, and let Google convert them into the correct Hindi word.This new endeavor by Google is a good move, and one that will help them reach a wider audience. If they wish to maintain their dominance over search, they'll have to continue expanding like this.